Cross Fire
by One Dreary Night
Summary: The elite group of Leaf village Genins are forced to compete in a randomly selected sports activity...Please RR


_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I never will. _

**Author's Notes:** Before you start reading this, I'll have you informed that this particular story will take place between Tsunade's succession to the title of Hokage and the big race in the Tea Country. So naturally, Nara Shikamaru will still be a Genin and Sasuke will still be a ninja in the Konoha Village. That is all.

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**Cross Fire**

The peaceful village of Konoha had gone through major reconstruction and refurbishing ever since the battle that took place between the leaf ninjas and the combination of Sound and Sand ninjas. Every little detail of the beautiful village had gone through pain staking replication of the old one thanks to the help of the entire residents and staff members whom were under direct orders from the charming, recently inaugurated Fifth Hokage.

However…This youthful and busty women sat in her office and dozed off once again, with one of her medical volume resting on her face as she leaned back against her chair. A large man in his mid forties, with his long bushy white hair remained silent as he sat across from her, indulging in his latest book that he wrote himself. He would glance up once in a while to stare at her disproportionate chest and blush, going back to reading his own perverted creation. This continued for a bit, until there came a gentle knocking on the office door.

"Come on in," Jiraiya invited, his eyes still lingering on the final chapter of his story. Shizune closed the door behind her and dusted her black robe, walking towards the desk as she did so. The old Sennin noticed that the talented medical ninja seemed down trodden and silently offered her a seat. She sighed as she plopped down on a chair next to the renown Frog Hermit.

"Ma'am, we have a problem," she whispered in her weak voice.

Tsunade stirred a bit in her chair, but continued to sleep anyways. Too bad for her, Shizune did not have the patience for Tsunade's usual antics this particular day and went straight into screaming at her beloved teacher.

"Hokage-sama!" she yelled, pounding on the desk to help her cause. It helped, as proven by the way Tsunade lunged backwards in shock and fell on the floor with a loud thud. Even Jiraiya kicked back in his chair and fell along with it, flailing his arms helplessly and landing on his back. They both groaned and got back on their respective seats.

"W-what is it, Shizune?" Tsunade asked. She yawned a bit and rubbed her eyes to better her focus.

"Ma'am. We're in deep trouble," Shizune said, taking a serious tone this time.

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**Chapter 1: The Game**

Both Jiraiya and Tsunade paid attention to the young Jounin as she prepared to project her concerns.

"Well, there came a notice from the ministry this morning about a special event that will take place in another two weeks…"

"And?" Jiraiya pushed.

"And, it's about the Genin Olympics. The letter described a few events and they would like for you to choose one of them as it would be the theme event this year."

"The Genin Olympics…Occurs every 4 years," Jiraiya commented.

Tsunade locked her methodical hands together in deep thought. She managed a sigh a few seconds afterwards and scratched her blonde hair.

"Your concern is genuine, all right," she began.

"We are short on man power right now, due to the recent tragedies and if we are to participate, we'll be neglecting some missions, which we cannot afford to do at this point in time."

Silence ensued, allowing for this information to sink into their heads.

"I guess we'll have to refuse," Tsunade concluded.

Shizune shook her head in disagreement.

"We cannot do that. If we do, our military power will become suspect and our ties with the rest of the hidden villages will surely weaken," she explained.

"Over a lousy game?" Tsunade inquired angrily.

"It really is hard to maintain peace in this world," her assistant stated.

Then there came another knocking on the door. All three of them looked back and watched Genma, another respectable Jounin enter the office. As soon as he walked in, he felt awkward due to their intense glare and coughed a few times to calm his nerves.

"Um…Excuse me, ma'am. I know I shouldn't have been listening by the door, but I just wanted to tell you that you don't need to worry about our supply of Genins anymore."

All three of them continued to stare in hope, watching their dilemma slowly fade away by the man's words.

"Meaning…?" Tsunade asked.

"Meaning that I just met up with Iruka and he says that quite a bit of the academy students will be graduating in another two days. Says he got a bunch this year that are pretty talented."

"Hmmm…Graduation. I nearly forgot about that," the new Hokage expressed, somewhat relieved by the news.

"Then we are to proceed with the event?" Jiraiya asked his fellow Sennin.

"Of course," she stated, as if it were obvious.

"Hand me the notice now, Shizune."

Her assistant formed a folded letter from her sleeve and handed it to her teacher. Tsunade continued to read down the list of events and stumbled upon another problem.

"Damn…I can't choose."

The rest faltered.

"Oh, I know!" the busty shinobi yelled as she took out an acupuncture needle. She threw the parchment up, causing it to flutter in mid air and threw her needle straight into the paper and watch it nail itself to the opposite wall.

"Alright, Genma. Read the event in which the needle landed on for me."

Puzzled, the Jounin walked up to the parchment and stared at the needle.

"Um it says…"

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"Dodgeball? What the hell is that?" Naruto yelled, resuming his usual barrage of tactless sentences. Sixteen Genins gathered together, along with their team leaders consisting of Jounins. Tsunade crinkled her nose as she skimmed the rule book for the particular sport, failing to understand anything at all. Genma coughed and stepped up from beside the confused Hokage.

"Ehem. Dodgeball is a sport in which your team will face against another team within a rectangular arena, divided into two proportions. One team will remain on one side, and the second team on the other. The objection of the game is to throw the ball and hit your opponent. The game is complete once there are no more players remaining on one side," he explained.

The usually lethargic Shikamaru took interest in the said sport and raised his hand.

"Yes?" Genma asked, taking out a fresh new toothpick to chew on.

"There's more to it then that, isn't there?" Shikamaru inquired. Genma was impressed by the sharp mind of the young Genin.

"Of course and to demonstrate that, I would like Gai and Kakashi to step up into the stage." The Jounins looked at one another and volunteered, one gleaming with anticipation and the other sighing, his hands taking refuge in his pockets.

"Okay now, the game begins when the presiding officer throws the ball up in the middle of the court. One representative from each side will take stance and try to catch the ball before the other in a start up session called the jump ball. Like this."

Then Genma held up a shiny red, regulation size ball and threw it up in the air. Kakashi stood his ground and watched Gai fly into the sky and catch the ball himself.

"Okay, once he caught his ball, he can either pass it to his team mate or go into attack himse-"

Before he can finish, Gai threw the ball with all his might and watch it spin wildly before his rival. Then he saw the Copy Ninja transform into a large tree stump on impact. The ball bounced off the object and into the hands of Kakashi, who stood behind his clone. Genma blinked in awe.

"Yes…And proper ninja trickery is allowed in the game as long as no other projectile weapon, aside from the ball, is used," he added as an after thought.

"In fact, the ball itself is designed to absorb the impact of chakra so it won't be damaged during power plays. Now once he's caught the ball, he can-"

Kakashi threw it in the air and performed a round house kick to launch the ball towards his fellow Jounin. Gai, determined to catch it on his own, held out his arms and received a major blow to his chest. Once the dust cleared away, Gai was seen cradling the ball with a pained expression on his face.

"Go Gai sensei!" Rock Lee cheered. His instructor flashed him a smile as he began spinning the ball on his index finger.

"Y-Yes, when the opponent is hit with the ball, the target will resume his game outside the court and on the outskirts of the opponent's rectangle. The person within the court can pass the ball to the opposite side to his own teammate outside the court if he wishes."

"And when you catch the ball, you can either allow your teammate to come back inside the court or banish the person who threw the ball at you from the court. And that's pretty much it for the basics and strategy for the game," Genma finished.

"So how will the teams be decided?" Chouji asked as he munched on his favorite brand of potato chips.

"That I can answer," Tsunade stepped in, unable to take feeling useless for a long time.

"The current teams will do fine for this event. That means the team you've been working together with all this time will remain your teammates," she elaborated.

Glances were exchanged among the Genins. Chouji smiled at Shikamaru happily and Sakura glanced shyly towards Sasuke, who was engaged in a glaring contest with Naruto.

"But why the hell are we the only ones doing this!?" Kiba exclaimed defiantly. Akamaru barked with him in agreement.

"Well, you guys remain as our elite Genin teams, as proven during the chunnin exam. Not only that, but we can only afford to allow some of the Genins to participate, seeing as our situation is pretty much dire right now," Tsunade pointed out calmly.

"Anyways, the first match up will be the team consisting of Shino, Kiba, and Hinata versus Shikamaru, Chouji, and Ino. The match will begin tomorrow at noon, so be prepared," she announced.

"And do your best because the series of match ups will decide the representative team for our village," Genma added.

"Shit…" Kiba groaned, scratching his hair underneath the hood. Shino remained indifferent to the turn of events. Hinata gripped her fists and mentally charged herself for the upcoming match, as she learned to do after watching many of Naruto's fights.

On the other side, Shikamaru crossed his arms in deep thought. Chouji and Ino quarreled over his eating habits, totally disregarding the situation at hand.

"So, what the hell is a dodge ball again?" Naruto asked around.

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That night, Asuma decided to treat his team to a nice, heavy dinner to get prepared for the upcoming match. Shikamaru remained still, reading a book next to Asuma, facing away from Ino and Chouji on the other side. The two continued to quarrel over the last bit of meat still being charred on the table grill.

"You know, you guys can actually win this if you guys can stop being lazy," Asuma pointed.

"What makes you say that, Asuma-san?" Ino asked innocently as she finally gave up on the last piece of meat.

"You especially Ino. You make fun of Chouji constantly, but he's already surpassed you in training. I have no idea what you're always neglecting your training for, honestly," he scowled.

"Sasuke," muttered Chouji in between his chewing. Ino shot a nasty glance at Chouji and began to choke him by his scarf. Asuma sighed after breaking up the fight.

"Chouji, you're not the one to talk either. Sure you've grown in strength exponentially over the past few months, but you still lack the will. Remember, your match in the chunnin exam was recorded as the shortest match up in the history of exams."

The chubby Genin groaned at the reminder of his failure.

"And you, Shikamaru," Asuma called for his attention as he turned his head towards him.

"You're a classic case. All you need is a boost of motivation, but I am not quite sure how to do that."

At that, Shikamaru put down his book and leaned against his elbow.

"Would you believe that I'm actually interested in this?" he asked as he pointed to his book with the words 'Dodge Ball' in bold.

"This sport has everything I need. There's no constant running involved, and there are certain remarkable touches in this game that reminds me of Shougi…"

"Just watch us, Asuma. Come tomorrow, we'll win this thing," Shikamaru boldly stated. Both Chouji and Ino grinned in unison.

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At the same time, somewhere else in the midst of the training ground, Shino, Hinata and Kiba sat beside a giant oak tree and studied the regulations together. Kiba strained his eyes and continued to read down the list of rules along with Hinata. Then he gave up mid way through his studies and collapsed on the floor from frustration.

"Damn it, why do we have to participate in a damn sport like this when our town is in crisis?!" he yelled.

Hinata and Shino both can sympathize with his words, but decided to remained silent. Then Hinata trodded next to Kiba and lent him her hand. Kiba looked up in surprise, then took her hand and stood up back on his feet. When he did, he saw her smile faintly at him.

"I…know this really doesn't have much to do with what we usually do, but I would like it if…we gave it our all in this tournament," she whispered loud enough for both of them to hear. Kiba was first taken back by her sense of determination, but he turned around and snorted to himself.

"Why is it that you want to compete so badly in this game?" Shino asked before Kiba can, which caused him to turn his head around just enough to catch her answer.

"Because…because we don't get too many opportunities to compete against our own friends. This time, I'd like to prove to them how strong we really are," she replied.

At that, both Kiba and Shino found their lips curled into that of a smile. They were more than satisfied by her answer.

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The very next day, the sun glared from the cloudless sky, causing the weather to be more than a bit humid and dry. Some of the villages happily took a break from their daily work to go and watch the Genin games unfold in the stands. It was a nice change of pace for them and it couldn't have come at a better time, with the scorching hot sun and all.

The main field of the ninja academy was filled with spectators, up to the neck of the entrance gate. In the center of the field were the participators of the event, waiting to step inside the 24 by 20 feet arena to begin the match. Then from the corner of the crowd, Genma approached with a red regulation ball in his arms. He stepped inside the rectangle lines and blew on his whistle to calm down the excited crowd, filled with anticipation.

"Alright now. I would like for today's competitors to step inside the court!" he ordered.

The six Genins walked over and positioned themselves within the court. The rest of the Genins sat by the courtside benches to enjoy the game.

"This is interesting…" Sasuke muttered. Naruto looked up and shot a questioning glance at his teammate.

"What do you mean by that?" Naruto asked.

"Both of these teams are not known for tremendous combat skills. In both cases, they've gotten pretty far with just tactics," Neji mentioned. Naruto turned his head around to Neji's voice right next to him.

"However, when it comes to strategies, Shikamaru alone is more than formidable," Sasuke added as he crossed his arms.

While they chatted, the representative from each team stepped up and met each other at the border line. Genma nodded to both of them and allowed them to touch the ball once. Kiba and Shikamaru stared each other down as they waited for the ball to be thrown above their head. Just then, Akamaru leaped out of Kiba's hood and reached for the ball as it became airborne. Having anticipated such a thing, Shikamaru unleashed his shadow technique and overlapped Kiba's shadow on the ground. Then using his ninjutsu, Shikamaru reached out with his hands, which automatically caused Kiba to do the same. Then using Kiba's arms, he caught the dog and took the ball away from him and threw it softly across to Chouji at the far back.

"Alright guys, we've got first dibs on the offensive," Shikamaru shouted as he grinned back at Kiba. The ferocious looking Genin growled under his breath and returned to his position.

"Don't worry about it, Kiba…" Hinata spoke gently. Kiba snickered in response.

"Alright Ino, get ready for anything as soon as Chouji throws the ball," the shadow Genin reminded her. Ino bit her lips and nodded, shaking a bit from the tension. Then Chouji winded his arms in great strides and began to run towards the border, shouting obnoxious phrases during the sprint. Then he stopped immediately and sent one flying towards Shino.

"Eat that, bug boy!" Chouji yelled afterwards. Shino stood there with his hands in his pockets, allowing for the ball to reach him. Then all of a sudden, they saw an image of Kiba flying towards the ball head on as he spun wildly in the air.

"Gatsuuga!" the image yelled as the impact of his attack caused the ball to propel back towards Chouji with tremendous force.

"Shit! Chouji! Use it now!" Shikamaru yelled desperately. Having heard his order, Chouji completed a set of hand seals and bloated up three sizes bigger than normal. Then as the ball nailed him in the abdominal area, he was sent back 5 feet from his normal position and completely absorbed the shock with his body fat. When he was no longer mobile, he shrunk back into his normal weight and held the ball in his hands.

"Now just wait a minute now!" Ino hollered at the top of her lungs.

"If Kiba uses his body to counter our attack, doesn't that mean that he's out of the game?" Ino asked the presiding officer. Genma shook his head.

"That wasn't Kiba who used his body to counter your move," Genma replied. Puzzled, Ino looked across the field to catch two Kibas standing together on the other side.

"It was Akamaru, which makes it a legal attack," Shikamaru commented, a bit annoyed by the strategy of the opposition. When Chouji finally caught his breath, he threw the ball back to Shikamaru. Having caught the ball, he called for his teammates' attention.

"Alright guys. New plan," said the shadow Genin.

_To be continued…_

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**Author's Notes: **That was fun. Had this idea in my head since I started writing "Enter Rock Lee". Had to get it out of my system.


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